Always and Forever
by Fearless Rider
Summary: They were supposed to be forever. Drabble exploring the Ultimate Sacrifice from POV of Alistair and Warden Amell. AlistairxSolona. T for character death.


Written to Forever and Always by Parachute so it's recommended listening while you read.

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><p>"No!"<p>

The shriek is torn from her lips as she watches Alistair charge the beast, sword in hand. She is too far to do anything but run towards them knowing she will never make it in time. Let the Darkspawn strike her. Let the blood flow freely from the wounds. Let her die if she can't reach him in time.

She raises her staff and fires a bolt of lightning at the beast but it is too little too late. Alistair has already attacked it and he glances back at her momentarily, eyes softening.

For a moment she is him, his thoughts flowing to her mind.

_'__Can't let her die. Won't let her die. I will do my duty. Love you forever Sol.'_

His sword flashes down and the world explodes.

Solona pulls herself up, head ringing, still bleeding, one destination in mind. She drags herself to his side and stares down into his lifeless eyes, frozen.

"Alistair," his name is moan as she places her hands over his body, trying to heal him, scraping up every last bit she has to try to heal him, to bring him back to her.

Droplets hit his face as she works over him. She isn't sure if it's the drizzle that has begun or her tears.

"Solona." Leliana is beside her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Sten watches on stoically.

"He can't be gone," Solona chokes out. "It was supposed to be me. It was supposed to be me. He _promised_. Why did I let him come? Why?"

A desperate plea to a Maker she is no longer sure she believes in, because surely if there was a Maker He would not have let the best, the brightest die in her place.

The others have begun to gather, Wynne beside her to heal her, Zevran sliding Alistair's eyes shut, Oghren joining Sten, Shale looking on from a distance, her dog putting his head on her lap, whining.

Leliana sings as she holds her, a lullaby Solona thinks. She is drenched from the rain or maybe it's blood, but what does it matter, because he is gone and the future they planned is gone and he will never say her name again or tease her or kiss her or hold her through nightmares. She will never wake up beside him again, they will never have a family, or rebuild the Wardens. He was supposed to be her forever, her happy ending.

_'I love you.'_

_'And I love you. Always.'_

He's gone and he left her and as she clutches his hand it grows cold, just as she is convinced her heart is doing, freezing over, turning her to ice.

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><p>"Solona!"<p>

She was determined to save him, he knew it, and he had promised himself not to let her out of his sight. Somewhere in the confusion she had slipped away and now he saw her, pale hair flying wild in the wind, charging the Archdemon with a sword almost too heavy for her to lift.

He turns away from the Shriek and runs, shouting her name. "Sol no!"

Morrigan's parting words echoed in his mind. _"She will never let you die for her."_

Maybe the witch had known her better than he had.

"Solona!"

She turns back as the dragon goes down and she reaches out a hand towards him. Her voice echoes in his head, magic or desperation or a hallucination, he isn't sure which.

_'__I'm so sorry, love. Be happy.'_

A flash of light, an explosion, he is thrown backwards, crashing into the ground. Around him he the Dark Spawn are screaming but they didn't even try to fight back as he cut down anything in his path to get to her.

She was so still. So small. Eyes shut. She could be asleep.

"Sol!" He picks her up, praying, holding her tight, hands on her neck, searching for the pulse he knew wouldn't be there. "Solona!" If he stays there long enough, holds her tight enough, maybe he will wake up from this nightmare.

Dying would have been so much easier than this.

Her dog is whining beside him, pawing at her body, looking at him beseechingly. The others gather in a loose cluster around him, Leliana has broken down in tears and Wynne is trying to heal her.

It is not possible that she is gone.

Damn him and his pride. He should have taken Morrigan up on her offer, despite the consequences, even if Sol would have left him for it. Anything to have Solona back, laughing at a dumb joke, countering with a worse one, her face when he kissed her, her nestled in his arms at night, hair in his face making him sneeze, watching her send crackles of electricity that could bring down an ogre, making lightning dance in her hands to entertain the children in the alienage.

It is raining and that can mask the tears, but not his shoulders shaking with sobs as he holds her. "Why, why, _why_?" Gone like the Wardens and Duncan and everyone he had ever cared about.

She is gone and all that's left is this empty shell. She is gone and he will never see her eyes light up or hear her laugh or watch her walk up the aisle towards him or hold the child she pretended not to want because they were both Wardens and he had warned her it might be impossible. She is gone and he is alone.

Forever this time.

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><p>AN: Short little drabble thinking about my mage Warden Sol and Alistair and their reactions. Poor baby Sol gets to be in all my sad AUs because she's a good person and my other warden's morals are slightly more questionable. Might add onto it if the muse strikes. I don't own Dragon Age. Reviews are always appreciated! :)


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